The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Review

Lucas Versantvoort / June 17, 2013

Spoilers abound

If there’s one film that had fans’ asses clenched this summer, it was Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. Having revitalized the Batman-universe with Batman Begins and blown everyone away with The Dark Knight, everyone was anxiously awaiting the final act. And though it’s a good film, it definitely doesn’t reach the heights of its predecessor.

            Bruce Wayne (spoiler: he’s batman) is not what he used to be physically, having spent years in his mansion and now needing a walking stick to get around. This is all because he took the blame for District Attorney Harvey Dent’s death and crimes in The Dark Knight. A new threat emerges, however, by the name of Bane which forces Batman out of retirement. I’m assuming you’ve watched the film by now, so I’ll stop here…

            I had a good time watching this movie in the theater which is the best place to watch this kind of epic, but even then there were many faults I couldn’t help but notice. For example: Marion Cotillard’s character, Miranda. She is introduced as a possible business partner for Bruce and a few scenes later they’re…engaging in coitus. My eyes widened as I could not understand how this came about. There was no indication whatsoever that they would become romantically involved. It all felt very awkward and their so-called ‘relationship’ didn’t do anything for me emotionally.

            This brings me to the second thing that highly annoyed me: her eventual reveal as the main villain. Although it was logical from a narrative point of view (her being Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter ties this film together with Begins), it removed any and all suspense. Bane was the Big Bad: he possessed brutish strength and brought Gotham to its knees. Miranda appeared only a few times earlier and though this might contribute to the reveal being unexpected, it also makes me go ‘meh’, since I don’t care about her in the slightest. It reminds me of the fail that was the ending to the videogame Mass Effect 3. In both cases there’s the mistake of introducing a drastic last-minute plot twist, thus ruining and negating what came before, and still expecting the audience to be fully engaged.

            Another thing that bothered me was Batman’s implied death towards the end (complete with clichéd boy soprano solo). It’s one thing to get all teary-eyed (which didn’t happen to me as my cliché-senses were tingling), but when you eventually show he survived, it makes you feel manipulated. Then it’s just shamelessly tugging at our heartstrings.

            Despite these failings, I did enjoy The Dark Knight Rises. There are worse ways to end a trilogy. Tom Hardy, though over the top, was exciting as Bane and Anne Hathaway was good as Selina Kyle (despite her character’s limited role). The epic style (cinematography, music) also made it easy to be swept away by it all. For me, it’s a merely okay ending to a trilogy that is engaging to watch in the theater, but becomes increasingly problematic when discussed in hindsight.